The criminal prosecution of Merritt Landry, the Marigny homeowner who shot an unarmed teenage boy who had climbed over a locked gate onto his property in the middle of the night, remains uncertain, after an Orleans Parish grand jury concluded discussions Thursday without making a decision on whether to indict or decline charges. Landry, 33, who has been free on bond after being booked last year on a charge of attempted second-degree murder, arrived at the New Orleans courthouse in the afternoon, according to WVUE Fox 8.

A law enforcement source said the grand jury was weighing the case against Landry, who shot Marshall Coulter, 14, in the head, putting him in a medically induced coma for weeks.

The shooting happened on July 26, on the heels of the not guilty verdict in the divisive George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin case in Florida, touching off a firestorm of controversy in New Orleans. Critics of Landry accused him of overreacting with deadly force. Supporters said he had the right to defend himself and his family.

The fact that Landry was trying to protect his pregnant wife and young daughter in his own home would likely be a point that grand jurors would relate to, said defense attorney Robert Jenkins, who is not involved in the case.

"It's such a tough case for the DA's office because this man is a homeowner and he has a family and you have a right to protect your family, so most jurors might agree with that," Jenkins said. "It's going to be tough to get an indictment."

Thursday was that grand jury's last time meeting together, Jenkins said; now the district attorney's office will select a new grand jury to which it will present criminal cases for the next six months. That means the new grand jurors will have to hear about the Landry case from the beginning and ask their questions. "It could be months," Jenkins said.

The district attorney's office has not confirmed that the Landry case was ever presented to the grand jury. However, Jenkins said the fact that Landry, his wife and his attorney were waiting at the courthouse when the grand jury presented its single indictment -- of a separate murder defendant -- showed that a prosecutor had tipped him off to his case being presented on Thursday.

It's an advantage for Landry, if he were indicted, to be at the courthouse to show the judge he is not a flight risk and thus seek a lower bond, Jenkins said.

A spokesman for District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro said only that it remains an open investigation. The district attorney has up to six years to bring charges in cases that are considered serious felonies. In this instance that would be 2019.

Landry's attorney, Kevin Boshea, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Efforts to reach Coulter's family were not successful.

New Orleans police booked Landry on a count of attempted second-degree murder just hours after he shot Coulter around 2 a.m. who he said he believed to be breaking into his house. Police said the unarmed teen did not pose an "imminent threat" to the homeowner.

According to an NOPD arrest warrant, Landry shot Coulter from 30 feet away, evidenced by the distance between the blood found on the ground and the single bullet casing outside Landry's house in the 700 block of Mandeville Street.

Landry told police that he approached Coulter from his front yard, near his vehicle. As he grew closer, he said, the boy made a "move, as if to reach for something" -- possibly a weapon -- so Landry shot him, the warrant states. Detectives said they spoke with an unidentified witness who gave an account that differed from Landry's.

Coulter, one of eight children, grew up in the 7th Ward and had just completed 7th grade at the ReNEW Cultural Arts Academy at the time of the shooting.

In a December interview, Coulter's mother said her injured son had trouble speaking and remained largely bed-ridden, unable to walk without the help of another person and having to eat and drink everything through a straw.

Landry returned to his job Nov. 23 as a building inspector for the city's Historic District Landmarks Commission, following a four-month suspension without pay due to his criminal investigation.